President Obama releases health reform proposal

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One notable absence in President Barack Obama’s health care plan released Monday is a public health insurance option.
AP photo composite by POLITICO

The White House proposal eliminates the special Medicaid deal for Nebraska, which Republicans dubbed the “Cornhusker Kickback” as the most maligned element of the Senate bill.

Obama’s plan would fully close the “donut hole” for Medicare prescription drug beneficiaries by 2020, going further than the Senate bill, which would have narrowed it to only 50 percent.

The bill also gives the federal government sweeping new powers to curb exorbitant rate hikes by the nation’s health insurance companies, a White House official said Sunday night – a proposal designed to win over skeptical voters as Obama announces his own health insurance legislation for the first time Monday.

Obama is seeking to play off voter anger toward recent double-digit increases by Anthem Blue Cross of California and show that his plan is designed to protect vulnerable Americans, both those with insurance and those who are seeking to obtain it.

The proposal for new federal power to rein in premium hikes wasn’t included in the versions of health reform that passed the House and Senate last year, though the rest of Obama’s bill is likely to cherry-pick some of the most popular parts of those bills to craft a compromise proposal that can unify his fractious party, liberals and moderates alike.

The proposal also has a populist appeal – Obama standing up to the big insurance companies – that could put pressure on Republicans to go along, even though they have decried the Democrats’ health reform efforts as a “big government takeover” of the system and generally resisted any efforts to give the government a greater role in the private insurance market.

Obama’s proposal would give the Health and Human Services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, new powers to review premium hikes by private insurance companies – and in some cases, block those deemed excessive. Anthem’s rate hikes of up to 39 percent in recent weeks have focused attention on the skyrocketing health insurance costs, the very costs Obama vowed to fight when he undertook comprehensive health care reform last year.

Obama’s plan would create a new board made up health insurance experts, which would determine annually what are reasonable premium hikes in various markets, and the HHS secretary also would work with state officials, the White House said.

By announcing his bill Monday, Obama also seems intent in putting pressure on Republicans to show they have a comprehensive solution to skyrocketing health care costs, heading into Thursday’s summit.

White House officials have already begun urging Republicans to post their bills on line as well – a clever tactic by the White House, because Republicans ideas for reform were spread across several pieces of legislation, or fell far short of the Democrats’ goal of insuring 31 million uninsured Americans. The main House Republican proposal, for instance, would only cover 3 million more Americans.

So, Ozero designed this legislation to be "Jammed" through using reconcilliation? Why even bother to ask the Republicans to come to his political theater if he plans on ramming through what he wants anyways? This president is a complete joke.

I heard there is the word "TAX" in his bill over 30 times throughout his bill. Thats all these liberals know how to do is tax and spend.

Ozero can paint his pile of crap any color he wants, but in the end it is still a stinky pile of crap.

No Public Option ? No second term, and watch the Democrats get hit hard in November. Obama is not the guy he pretended to be. He will NOT stand up for what he believes in. Pathetic. The Democrats are weak !

Anytime the American people are a "captive audience" for Big Business - whether it's utility rates, insurance profits, or gasoline prices - the federal government is needed to "level the playing field". Let the Republicans scream socialism all they want; they think their job is to ensure corporate profits. I want government to protect Americans from exploitation by the rich and powerful.

WE JUST CANNOT AFFORD THIS HUGE MASSIVE BUREAUCRATIC NIGHTMARE! WHY ARE WE DOING THIS WHEN OUR COUNTRY IS IN SUCH TERRIBLE SHAPE? I SYMPATHIZE WITH THE PRESIDENT! BUT HOW CAN WE TAKE ON ANOTHER HUGE ENTITLEMENT WHEN WE CAN'T PAY FOR THE ONE'S WE HAVE? IT THINK THIS IS DOA!

Politics is a crazy world, and none of us know for sure what this year will bring, but I suspect President Obama may turn out to be the most obtuse and stupid president we have ever had. He claimed not to be an ideologue, but everything this man does is solely ideological. He claims to be open-minded to Republican/Conservative ideas, but what he really means is that he is willing to let them have the chance to agree with him. If they do not, he will ram this health bill through with just Liberal ideas any way he has to. If he does that, I believe he will destroy his party for possibly quite some time to come. We may indeed see an truly unprecedented (to borrow an Obama over-used term) turnover of power in this country in both the November 2010 and 2012 elections. I have mixed emotions about that. It is wrong and bad for our country for either party to ignore the concerns of the segment of our population represented by the opposing party and use gimicks and tricks to install their agenda, especially in light of the overwhelming opposition to this massive overhaul of our health care system. On the other hand, I believe his party's and his ideas would be so harmful to our entire idea of government and way of life that I would rather see it thwarted and have his party and him remain in power. How can a man with such obvious intelligence and personal traits be so completely idiotic? The only answer is that he is the worst type of ideologue - one who is willing to destroy his own party to do what he wants. That is the attitudes of past monarchs, not the elected president of a republican state. God help us!

I favor the health care plan even with a trillion dollar cost. We are going to have to hit rock bottom and go broke before Washington realizes we have a problem. The sooner we go bust the sooner we start the climb out of the pits and depths of eternal hell and damnation. Let's get it over with now.

I favor the health care plan even with a trillion dollar cost. We are going to have to hit rock bottom and go broke before Washington realizes we have a problem. The sooner we go bust the sooner we start the climb out of the pits and depths of eternal hell and damnation. Let's get it over with now.

No Public Option ? No second term, and watch the Democrats get hit hard in November. Obama is not the guy he pretended to be. He will NOT stand up for what he believes in. Pathetic. The Democrats are weak !

Reading your post, I must assume you are of a certaing age. It is us, younger people that will benefit from this ins reform long-term. Even older people will benefit from this over teh next 15-20 years. You will be happy once the legislation goes into effect. Right now, you are just confused and scared - probably listen too Rush and Glenn Beck too much, or heard thing from Fox or whatever.

Instead of calling Obama idiotic, you should set your unjustified fears aside, and as you say, see and appreciate and respect the fact that, yes he seems willing to be a one term president in order to put the country on a new path towards greatness. It is our only chance to move forward.